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Shaykh Saalih al-Fowzaan said:
Yes, this is something people are lenient about: lying to children.
Lying to children is not permissible; neither to adults nor to children.
So this woman called her son, who was small, ‘Abdullaah ibn ’Aamir was small, his mother called him and said[1],
“Come, I will give you [something],”
– tempting him to come.
So the Prophet ﷺ said:
«And what did you want to give him?»
She said: “I want to give him a date”.
So he ﷺ said to her:
«If you do not give it to him, it would be recorded against you.»
– meaning a lie:
«would be recorded against you»
– containing the sin of lying.
This indicates that lying to children or adults is not permissible, and this is bad upbringing, because if you lie to a child, you raise him to lie.
If he sees that you lie to him, he will be lenient about lying, and he will [therefore] be raised upon lying.
This is bad upbringing. Yes. So the Muslim must avoid lying with his children, [and] with the people. Yes.
And Ahmad [reports], on the authority of Abu Hurayrah, in a narration[2] attributed to the Prophet ﷺ:
«Whoever says to a child, ‘Come here, I will give you [something],’ and then does not give it to him, it is a lie.»
Shaykh Saalih al-Fowzaan said:
Yes, this [hadeeth] clarifies the previous hadeeth; his ﷺ saying:
«would be recorded against you»
– recorded against you, what? A lie. A lie would have been recorded against you.
Even if it is to children. Lying to children is not permissible because this harms them and disappoints them.
And because it lessens their trust. It lessens their trust in their parents and in those who lied to them.
And because it also raises them upon lying. If they see…if they see that their parents lie, they will be raised upon lying and will be lenient about it.
So this includes anyone responsible for the upbringing – whether it is a parent or a teacher. Everyone responsible for the upbringing must avoid lying to children. Yes.
[1] Transmitted by Ahmad, and Abu Daawood.
[2] Transmitted by Ahmad.
Translation originally published on 28 November, 2025
